Complementary Paths: Alternative and Complementary Therapies

Alternative therapies for children with speech and language delays or disorders can include everything from special diets to therapeutic horseback riding.

Here is a list to start you off with some information about the different types of alternative/complementary therapies that may be helpful to your child. As with anything, please be sure to investigate these different therapies on your own, and check with your child's physician.

Some Alternative/Complementary Therapies:

• Some speech-delayed children have success when their diets are supplemented with Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs).
• Others show improvement through cranial-sacral therapy.
• Hippotherapy (therapeutic horseback riding) paired with speech therapy is successful for some children.
• Music therapy is often used to help children with motor speech and fluency problems.
• Auditory therapy is helpful for some children with communication disorders and impairments.
• Biomedical interventions are based on the theory that the body is out of balance often resulting in gastrointestinal symptoms.

There are many different therapies and techniques that work well for children with communication delays and impairments. Read about some of them in the following pages:

Books: Alternative Therapies

Links: More about Alternative Therapies

Videos about Alternative Therapies

Talk to Others about Alternative Therapies

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